Our itinerary for the day started with seeing most of the Golden Circle.
First up: Kerið crater lake.
Björk performed a concert there, in 2011. ...with pyrotechnics ...while standing on a zodiac, holding an umbrella.
Next on the Circle, which is neither golden nor a circle, we stopped in the Haukadalur area to see Geysir and Strokkur.
As with the other hot springs, boiling water is just seeping out of the ground. A warning sign and a rope about 2 feet off the ground are all that stand between you and scalding.
Geysir itself is dormant, but Strokkur erupts regularly and often.
You can, if you so desire, get close enough to get splashed with boiling water.
Or, perhaps if your parents aren't paying attention, you can go in headfirst, or just dip your hand in.
Walking around the area felt like being on a movie set, or perhaps another planet. The smell, if you were downwind of the steam, was also like something from another planet.
Just east of The Great Geysir area is Gullfoss, a waterfall that averages about 37,000 gallons/second in the summer.
We walked along the lower path to the falls, and approached the edge of the waterfall.
Those of us without jackets got soaked by the spray (just me, I think).
From Gulfoss, we headed south along Rt. 30 towards the town of Flúðir, in search of the Secret Lagoon (formerly AKA Gamla Laugin), for a relaxing soak. We found it just before 2 PM.
It's basically a huge hot tub, with a rocky bottom, fed by a hot spring. There are several thermal pools around the edge of it, too hot to touch as usual.
After soaking for an hour or so, we hit the showers, packed up, and continued our trek south towards the coast. It was just after 3 PM when we left, according to the timestamp on this photo:
Ken had the horse tenderloin. We all tried it, and it was quite good.
Continuing our Waterfall Tour of Iceland (WToI), we stopped at Seljalandsfoss about 20 miles down the road from Hella.
This waterfall was unique in that there's a path around/through the cave below it, allowing you to walk (climb) behind the water.
The path turned into a hill of rocks at some point, but at least I remembered to wear rain gear this time.
With or without rain gear, we were certainly having a drier day than these guys taking a motorcycle tour.
We left Seljalandsfoss around 6 PM, with about 90 minutes of driving to go to reach tonight's accommodations.
But first... next up on the WToI, and only 18 miles east, we have Skógafoss, which I believe is the tallest falls that we visited.
There was one more brief stop we had to make before heading towards the hotel, at Reynisfjara black sand beach near Vík.
There were some impressive basalt columns adjacent to small sea cave, as well as miles and miles of black rocks/sand.
In the distance, you can see Reynisdrangar in one direction...
... and Dyrhólaey in the other.
We left Reynisfjara some time around 8 PM, and set a course for Hotel Geirland in Kirkjubæjarklaustur. It was about a one hour drive, through moss-covered lava fields.
We checked in, and sat down for dinner at 9 PM.
There was some double-smoked, local lamb. Also Skyrcake (cheesecake made from Skyr).
After dinner, we unloaded the car into our guesthouse room.
I headed back to the main building / reception to use the wifi, and tried a small glass of the local distilled spirits, AKA "black death".
Tomorrow, we are taking a puffin tour, and a boat tour around the Glacier Lagoon.
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